The present invention relates to electrical switches and is to be used in the structural design of a vacuum relay, whereby a switching contact is connected in an insulated manner to an armature of a driver system within a vacuum.
Vacuum relays can be equipped with varying types of driver systems. Usually, an electromagnet, having a clapper-type armature is used for this purpose. However, a magnetostrictive or piezoceramic driver system can also be used which has a clapper-type armature.
In a known vacuum relay of this type which has an electromagnet as the driver system, the actual contact unit of the relay consists of four parts: namely, the clapper-type armature of the electromagnet, a mounting support in the shape of a pin which is secured to the clapper-type armature, an insulating bar consisting of a ceramic material (sapphire) which is locked in position on the mounting support, and a switching contact in the form of a switching laminate which is mounted on the upper end of the insulating bar (GB-PS 1 121 497, DE-Z "Siemens Components", 1986, pp 143 to 147). The area of application of this type of a vacuum relay depends among other things on the mechanical properties of the contact unit such as mechanical stressability, switching endurance, chatter time, and contact pressure.